DesktopWindow – Xojo Programming Blog https://blog.xojo.com Blog about the Xojo programming language and IDE Tue, 25 Mar 2025 15:33:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 WinUI and A Box of Shadowy Changes https://blog.xojo.com/2025/03/25/winui-and-a-box-of-shadowy-changes/ Tue, 25 Mar 2025 15:32:59 +0000 https://blog.xojo.com/?p=14641 Occassionally we make fixes and additions that might seem minor to some, but a highlight for others. Take for example our changes to the DesktopWindow Shadowed Box type. At first glance, this change might not seem significant, especially for macOS and Linux users, where no upgrade was required. But for Windows users, it’s a small yet important step toward something even better.

Making Your App Stand Out

Designing an app that stands out can be a challenge, but sometimes, a simple UI refresh can make all the difference. One small yet impactful step in that direction was improving the Shadowed Box frame type of a DesktopWindow. If you’ve ever tried using it on Windows, you likely noticed a frustrating limitation—the title bar never fully disappeared. What should have been a sleek, borderless look was instead marred by a stubborn, shrunken title bar, making it easy to abandon the feature altogether, and perhaps preferring to use the Plain Box type instead.

Notice that the title bar isn’t entirely removed.

With Xojo 2025r1, this is no longer a problem. The title bar now disappears entirely on Windows, just like it does on macOS and Linux. This makes it even more effective for use cases like splash screens, which appear much more dynamic compared to the flat look of the Plain Box type.

Modernize with WinUI

Our Splash Screen is a small example of what’s possible with WinUI through our DesktopXAMLContainer. For 2025r1, we’ve enhanced DesktopXAMLContainer by adding support for additional methods, properties, and events for WebView2, as well as support for the MediaElement control. We’ve also improved tab navigation between WinUI controls within a DesktopXAMLContainer and non-WinUI controls in your layout. Additionally, WinUI layout controls like StackPanel and Grid can now resize to the bounds of your control, instead of just resizing to fit content. This makes background fills, such as acrylic brushes, easier to manage. As we keep advancing Xojo’s WinUI support, you can start taking advantage of these shadowy changes today. Check out our XAML example projects included in the Xojo download Examples folder to see what’s already possible!

William Yu grew up in Canada learning to program BASIC on a Vic-20. He is Xojo’s resident Windows and Linux engineer, among his many other skills. Some may say he has joined the dark side here in the USA, but he will always be a Canadian at heart.

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